Drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft are wildly exploited, largely because they’re misclassified as independent contractors. Recent union deals to protect those drivers leave them as independent contractors — just the way the rideshare bosses want it.
The Left and Right Share a Moral Theory of Exploitation
A new study finds that people across the political spectrum share a remarkably similar understanding of exploitation: the unjust use of power to secure unequal outcomes.
Capitalism Is Killing an American Cinema Renaissance
The Odyssey’s runaway success should green light more 70mm IMAX screens. But deindustrialization killed the skilled trades that built the projectors and the union jobs that ran them — so instead we’ll get resale markets and paywalled seats.
Centrists Are Still Defending California Billionaires
California Democrats just defied Gavin Newsom to endorse a billionaire wealth tax. The fight previews a national battle in which centrists push “pragmatic” alternatives that would barely make a dent in ultra-elites’ wealth or power.
Why the Gig Economy Won’t Call Workers Employees
The gig economy promised flexibility, but it also fudged one simple question: Who counts as an employee? This legal ambiguity undermines the rights of not just Amazon and Uber workers but the whole labor force.
American Freedom Was Built on Endless Conquest
The Founders made expansion the precondition of American freedom. We must find an alternative.
Jonathan Chait’s Atlantic essay claims the Democratic Socialists of America has betrayed the legacy of its founder, Michael Harrington. It gets DSA’s history, and what the organization is today, wrong.
Mahmoud Khalil Is Suing the Trump Administration
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was detained and threatened with deportation by the Trump administration for protesting Israel’s genocide. He spoke to Jacobin about why he is now suing the administration.
Socialists Need to Develop a Constitutional Politics
To win change for working people, the Democratic Socialists of America should expand its vision of how to change our constitutional order. We can smash unaccountable executive and judiciary power even without having to amend the Constitution.
How Capitalism Undermines Democracy
Milton Friedman argued that capitalism was democracy’s natural home. He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Born and Misunderstood in the USA
It is received wisdom that Ronald Reagan played “Pink Houses” and “Born in the USA” at his rallies because he thought he could drain these songs of their meaning. A new book explains how heartland rock came to appeal to left- and right-wing fans alike.
Mainstream economics cannot accept the concept of contradiction that is foundational for Karl Marx’s analysis of capitalism. David Harvey explains why we need the Marxist perspective if we want to make sense of capital’s latest mutations in the age of AI.
If AOC Doesn’t Run for President, Run a Union Worker
The Left can’t sit out the 2028 Democratic primary. If AOC chooses not to run for president, Eric Blanc argues that socialists should run a working-class candidate — even an unknown one — who can inject anti-billionaire politics into the race.
Gen Z Can’t Go On. It Must Go On.
Work under capitalism sucks, and Gen Z’s disillusionment with the labor market is justified. But work itself is socially necessary and the only way to transform it is through collective power, not withdrawal.
M. N. Pokrovsky Pioneered Russia’s Marxist School of History
M. N. Pokrovsky was the first scholar to present a Marxist view of Russian history. He became a very influential figure after the 1917 revolution, but the rise of Stalinism meant that he was posthumously written out of the history books.
Medicaid Cuts Could Kill Safety-Net Health Centers
Federally qualified health centers are an essential source of medical care for poor and working-class Americans, especially in rural areas and neighborhoods of color. Medicaid cuts in Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill could shut them down.